Smiling
by 7thstory
Summary: A chance encounter changes Tsubaki's life. (Spoilers for Irene's story will be appearing later in the fic.) Work-in-progress
1. The First Smile

I'm not sure about this one...I mean, I don't even like Tsubaki much, why am I writing about her? ::sigh:: Anyway...

Disclaimer: I don't even want to own Tsubaki-hime. The rest of Yami no Matsuei is on my wish list, though...

------_Smiling_------

"Buy a flower, miss?" 

The voice was cheerful, a bright sound against the dull clamor of the city street. I turned and came face-to-face with the speaker. She was slightly older than I, or at least a bit taller. Brown hair was held loosely out of dark eyes. She was smiling, holding out a basket of blossoms. 

"I'm sorry..." I murmured. "I don't have any money."

"Oh." 

I turned back and was about to follow in the direction that my father was moving before he could notice that I was lagging behind. 

"Wait!" The girl called to me. "What's your name? I'm Irene."

"My name is Tsubaki."

Irene looked pleasantly surprised. Gently, she picked through the flowers in her basket, removing one red blossom.

"I'll give you a tsubaki, then!"* 

I stared at the camellia in her hand. "But I can't pay...."

"No charge. I don't want anything."

"I'd feel bad taking it without giving you anything..."

Her smile slipped for a moment, but then she brightened once again. "Will you be my friend?"

I blinked.

"It's all right for friends to give each other gifts, isn't it?" She offered the flower again.

Slowly, I smiled. I reached out, accepting both the camellia and her friendship. 

"Tsubaki-chan!" My father seemed to have noticed that I was no longer following him.

I stepped away from Irene, about to hurry after my father, but something made me turn back. "I'm Kakyouin Tsubaki," I said. "Don't forget."

She shook her head. "I won't."

I waved goodbye to her and ran to my father. As he led me away, I looked behind me. Irene was standing where I'd left her, waving, her face happy.

I smiled back and waved again as the crowd swallowed her up. A sudden sadness struck me. This was my first friend, though I'd only known her a few minutes.

I had no doubt that I would never see her again.

---To be continued.

Maybe. Only if enough people tell me that it isn't awful. Of course, if you do think it's awful, feel free to tell me so. It's not like I sacrificed my Humanities homework to do this...oh, wait...it is...But this was more fun, anyway.

Oh yeah: *Tsubaki means camellia, in case you didn't know. That's what those flowers Tsubaki always wears are.

~Ambika-san


	2. Smiling in Return

First of all, I want to say "thank you!" to my reviewers...Yes, reviewer_s _! For a while there, it looked like I wouldn't be able to use the plural—but I have two! Reviews, that is...

To those of you that read and didn't review...(if you exist...)well, all I can say is I hope you liked it, because since you didn't tell me anything, I don't really know. 

Right! Well, since I have at least two readers that like this, I'm continuing! And here is the continuation!

-----_Smiling_-----

A few days later, I found the first camellia on my windowsill. 

I smiled and tucked the flower behind my ear. 

The next day, a new blossom lay in the place where the first one had rested. The day after, another.

On the fourth day, I sat down by the window with a book. It was warm outside, and a gentle breeze blew through the window, ruffling my hair. I stared at the page before me. My eyes felt heavy

When I woke up, there was a camellia on the windowsill beside me. For the first time, the gift didn't make me smile. Sighing, I picked it up and carried it to my dresser. 

The following day found me by the window again. Before I had a chance to get drowsy, I spotted a girl walking down the street toward our house. She had long, brown hair that was clasped loosely behind her. She was carrying a wicker basket.

She noticed me watching her and waved. 

"Tsubaki-chan!" she called. 

I waved back as she hurried to the window. 

She gave me a quick smile as she hunted through her basket. She picked one flower from those that remained and held it out to me. 

"I knew it was you!" I exclaimed, taking the camellia. "That's why I waited yesterday." 

"I saw you," she said. "You just looked so peaceful that I couldn't wake you up."

I laughed. "Would you like to come in?" 

Irene paused, looking nervous. "...Is it all right?" 

"Of course it is! You're my friend."

A slow smile spread across Irene's face. "All right." 

She disappeared, and a few minutes later, the doorbell sounded through the house. I ran for the door, only narrowly beating the maid who had also heard the bell. 

I threw the door open, grinning widely. 

"Hello," Irene smiled.

"Come in," I stood aside, and Irene stepped through the door. I took her hand and started to lead her upstairs, but then I paused, turning to the bewildered-looking maid who was still standing in the doorway.

"Could you have some tea sent to my room, please?"

She bowed and disappeared. 

When I looked back at Irene, she seemed to be drinking in her surroundings. She was staring at everything with a kind of awe. 

"Come on, I'll show you my room."

Irene faced me, seeming slightly overwhelmed. "A...All right..."

"What's the matter?"

"It's nothing...I'm just...I've never been in such a nice house..." 

"Oh..." I wasn't really sure what to say. "Well, you're welcome to come back any time. My dad's always busy. I doubt he'd notice you were here, or mind if you were."

Irene smiled. "Thanks."

"It's all right. Now, we should get going if we want to beat the tea to my room..."

A few minutes later, Irene was sitting on my bed as I pulled a small table out of its corner and found a pair of chairs to set at it. 

As I finished the preparations, there was a knock at the door. 

"Tsubaki-sama?"

I pulled the door open. It was Kaede, the maid that I'd sent for tea. She stepped into the room and placed the tray she was carrying at the table I'd moved. 

"Thank you, Kaede." 

She bowed and started toward the door. As she reached it, she turned back to me.

"Oh, and one other thing, Miss. Doctor Muraki is here to see you."

-----To be continued.

Whew! Finally finished. Hope you like it. On a semi-related note, do you know what I did today? I bought 11 volumes of Yami no Matsuei off eBay. They're all in Japanese. On the upside, I can read kana, I know where to find translations, anyway, and they only cost $50, including shipping. (Christmas money...) On the downside, I can't read kanji and I don't know that much Japanese. The good things outweigh the bad ones. I'm happy.

And insane.

~Ambika-san


End file.
